The College has been self-assessing as a grade 2 Good for several years now. We are confident that the service we provide to our students is consistently good, and in many cases, outstanding. Since 2015 staff at HRC have been on an improvement journey which now firmly places us in the top half of providers in the UK and one of the best colleges locally. This position has been maintained and further strengthened since March 2020 when the first national lockdown was implemented. Achievement rates, learner survey results and other key measures of performance continued to improve and exceed the previous year’s benchmarks.
This section celebrates the collective, Team HRC, effort of staff and highlights some of the ways in which they adapted to ensure that learners were not disadvantaged.
As part of the consultation process for the strategy over 50 members of teaching and support staff were asked to provide feedback on what they think makes excellent teaching, learning and assessment. They were also asked to think about how education will need to adapt and incorporate lessons learnt during the Covid period.
I am delighted to be able to introduce Hertford Regional College’s new Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy.
succeeded in raising standards and improving student outcomes and progress to a level that compares most favourably to leading colleges in the sector, this new strategy encompasses all the good practice developed during this period whilst taking on board the extraordinary developments in teaching and learning over the past 15 months.
When I led student focus groups in early March 2020 to explore the topic of preferred learning styles, nobody could have envisaged that the way we view learning would have changed so dramatically in such a relatively short space of time. At that time there was a clear appetite amongst our students to blend the traditional accepted good practice with an increased use of modern technology as long as it was dynamic and participative. Today we embrace the concept of blended learning as “the new normal” based on the experiential learning journey we have been on collectively, ensuring that it is grounded in learning that meets the needs of individuals and is adapted suitably to meet the needs of all groups in an inclusive manner.
I would like to thank all members of the college community - staff, students, governors, employers and other stakeholders - that have been involved in developing this strategy. First and foremost, we are a learning institution and, as well as being proud innovators that aspire to be the best we can to benefit our learning community, we must recognise the extraordinary events of the past 15 months and how everyone has responded to that individually and collectively. I have never felt more privileged to lead Hertford Regional College and prouder of what we have achieved collectively.
Tony Medhurst
“I have always been someone keen to be at the forefront of positive change. I will continue to investigate online platforms to develop the most comprehensive online delivery as possible. We should never be content with our quality as nothing ever stays the same, being “content” is the beginning of failure as you neglect the need to adapt and push forward with developments. I am never content, and I do not plan to be.”
Andreas Anastasi – Motor Vehicle Lecturer“I feel that the staff and student did so well for the year they have had. Running practical courses during a lockdown was an extremely hard challenge with the time that we had to convert over to online. I do feel that we the college, the staff and the students all pulled together to ensure that the learners still gained the required skills to be able to progress within their chosen career pathways.”
Dean Kilmartin – Construction and Motor Vehicle Programme Manager“Always look at the individual steps the student will have to undertake to complete the tasks. Is the student ready to make that leap forward? Have you turned the steps into a pathway for them to follow? Hearing a student say, “I think I’ve got it!” gives me the most satisfaction.”
Simon Harper – Maths Tutor
“This year has taught me to make sure staff are confident in using the college system so they can make the most out of the tools available and be more willing to try new things with technology. I will continue to talk to staff about what they are using in their lessons and find out ways other staff can use it their lessons.”
Dominic Dewey – E-Learning Technologist
“Being able to express opinions and problems in an open and unjudgmental environment, means that conflict and disagreement is quickly resolved in a healthy and professional manner. Morale and good humour are always at a good level.”
Adam Dryer – Site Technician
“I am happy to say that despite all the lockdowns and disrupted learning that all the first and second-year students have continued to make work and are set to achieve at a pass or higher! I was so happy to see some of the digital outcomes and strong drawing skills, I asked the technicians to print out some of the work and seeing their digital outcomes printed in the corridor gave the students a real boost and another opportunity to discuss their work with others.
I would like to continue to have one session a week remotely with each year group as it has given them a more professional way of working and ownership of their progress. It helps prepare them for industry where they might be giving presentations to overseas clients.”
Elise Gannon – Animation Programme Manager“This year has shown that young people don’t get enough credit and that when they are given the responsibility to do the right thing, the vast majority will do it, so we need to stop shielding them and give the chance to step up, even if that means they don’t quite get it right. We will and can support them to get it right next time.”
Sharon Edwards – Curriculum Area Manager, Care and Active Industries
